Abstract
The function of the living matter is based on its structure and materials. The requirements for good structural information are as follows. 1. It represents the structure that closely resembles the living state. 2. High spatial and temporal resolutions. 3. It contains information about the material and its dynamics. 4. Quantitativeness. The light microscope is profitable for the first requirement, and the electron microscope surpasses for the second requirement, i.e., high spatial resolution. In vivo observation of the living matter at high spatial resolution has been an unattainable ambition for biologists of our generation. Now, the first and second requirements seem to have found the solution by the amazing recent developments of the optical systems and imaging techniques. In addition, the molecular structure and dynamics of important bio-molecules, such as various channels and receptors, are clarified at sub-nanometer resolution utilizing the ultra cryo electron microscope tomography. The remarkable advances of molecular biology has cut a pass to the third and fourth requirements. Since 1948 I have devoted my career as an anatomist to the progress of biological imaging and have tried to clarify the relation between the structure and the function of the living matter with the aid of a variety of microscopes as described above.
